Improvement in shifting cutter-thills



UNITED STATES PATENT QF'FICE H. L. TAYLOR, OF FREDONIA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO HIB/[SELF AND OHAS. W. DANIELS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHIFTING C UTTER-THlLLS.

Specification forming part of Letters .Patent N o. 58,353, dated September 25, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that. I, H. L. TAYLOR, of Fredonia, in the county of Chautauqua and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shifting Gutter-Thills; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, making part of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is plan of a pair of thills attached to the draft-bar of a cutter and representing my improvement. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the spring det-ached.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both iignres.

My invention consists in attaching the thills of a cutter to the draft-bar of the latter in such a manner that the thills may be easily shifted from a position at one side, as required on roads having an unbeaten center, toa position centrally in front of the cutter, when the state of the roads will permit such change, and vice versa, and in retaining them in either position by a spring constructed and arranged as hereinafter described. i

In the drawings, A represents a pair of ordinary thills; B, a cross-bar, to which the ends of the same are secured; O, the draftbar, rigidly attached to the runners D D of the cutter. a. b c and d e f are eyebolts, fastcned, respectively, to the cross and draft bars B O, and equidistant from each other. Through the eyes of these bolts passes the adjustingrod E, Whose end g screws into the eye of bolt c, as represented in Fig. 1, the eyes of the bolts d c f being snfliciently large to allow the rod E to adjust or slide in the saine when the thills are shifted. l

I is a spring, secured in any suitable manner to the draft-bar C, being bent as represented, and having'a shoulder or projection, s, at each end for the purpose of retaining the thills in place, and also provided with thumb pieces o o for operating the spring, as will presently be described.

I do not confine myself to the precise form and construction of the spring I, as it may obviously be considerably varied and still accomplish substantially the same result.

The operation of my improvement is as follows: When the condition of the road is such as to leave a ridge in the center, rendering it difficult or impossible for a horse to travel there, the thills are adjusted to one side, as represented in the drawings by black lines, so as to permit the horse attached thereto to travel in one of the side tracks. They are retained in that position by the shoulder s ofthe spring I, forming a stop, so as to confine the eyebolt b between it and the bolt d of the draitbar. When the road has no such central ridge or unbeaten portion, as is the case in cities and with roads that have a great amount of travel, it is then advisable, on account of theless draft upon `the horse, to changethe position of the thills to one direotly in front of the vehicle. This is easily and rapidly done by pressing down the engaged end ofthe spring by means of the thumb-piece o,

so as to release the bolt b, and then sliding the rod E through the eyes of bolts d e, the

end of the former entering the leye of bolt f,

'when the opposite end of the the bolt b against the central one, e, of the draftbar, as shown in red lines, and thereby firmly securing the thills in this shifted position.

l The advantages of my invention are, its extreme simplicity, its consequent cheapness of construction, and the facility and rapidity with which t-he shifting is effected.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of the rod E, double-acting spring I, or its equivalent, and eyebolts a b c and d e j', arranged and operatingsubstair tially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses. y

Witnesses: H. L. TAYLOR.

JN0. C. MULLETT, 0. L. SWIFT.

spring retains 

